Front-loading disk player with separate fist and second carrier units

ABSTRACT

A front-loading disk player is provided which can pull either a bare disk or a disk mounted in a cartridge into a housing so as to perform an operation of reproducing information thereon. A first carrier unit is moveable from a carrier path of the cartridge disk in association with a carrier of the cartridge disk by a second carrier unit. A cover section has a second slot for only the bare disk therein. The first carrier unit includes a transfer unit for transferring the bare disk, and a holding unit provided on the transfer unit for holding the bare disk on the transfer unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to a front-loading disk player.

[0003] 2. Background Art

[0004] A CD and a DVD are, as known, used as a bare disk, i.e., the diskis not protected or enclosed. On the other hand, a DVD-R/W, a rewritableDVD, is used in a form in which a disk is mounted in a cartridgeprovided with a playing window.

[0005] Therefore, a front-loading disk player compatible with both abare disk and a disk mounted on a cartridge is desired.

SUMMARY AND OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide afront-loading disk player which can receive either a bare disk or a diskmounted in a cartridge in a housing so as to play the disk, i.e., toperform an operation of reproducing information therefrom.

[0007] A front-loading disk player according to the present inventioncomprises a front panel having a slot capable of receiving therein botha bare disk and a cartridge disk with a recording disk mounted in thecartridge; a first carrier unit for carrying the bare disk received inthe slot; and a second carrier unit for carrying the cartridge diskreceived in the slot, and the first carrier unit is moveable from acarrier path for the carrier of the cartridge disk by the second carrierunit.

[0008] A front-loading disk player according to the present inventioncomprises a front panel having a slot for receiving therein both a baredisk and a cartridge disk with a recording disk mounted in thecartridge; and a carrier unit for carrying the bare disk receivedthrough the slot, and the carrier unit comprises a transfer unit fortransferring the bare disk and a holding unit provided on the transferunit for holding the bare disk on the transfer unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front-loading disk playeraccording to the present invention;

[0010]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the player of FIG. 1 with thehousing therefrom;

[0011]FIG. 3 is a partially-exploded perspective view of the coverprovided for the slot on the front panel of the player in FIG. 1;

[0012]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a lock arm assembly engaging thecover in FIG. 3;

[0013]FIG. 5 is a plan view of a key section around the cover along ahorizontal surface including the line A-A in FIG. 2;

[0014]FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a carrier mechanism ofthe player in FIG. 1;

[0015]FIG. 7 is a front view of the key section without the front panelin FIG. 2;

[0016]FIG. 8 is a partially-exploded perspective view of the area arounda hold assembly of the carrier mechanism in FIG. 6;

[0017]FIG. 9 is a partially-exploded perspective view of the area arounda centering plate of the carrier mechanism in FIG. 6;

[0018]FIG. 10 is a partially-exploded perspective view of the areaaround a shutter-open/close arm of the carrier mechanism in FIG. 6;

[0019]FIG. 11 is a partially-exploded perspective view of the areaaround an escape plate of the carrier mechanism in FIG. 6;

[0020]FIG. 12 is a side view when viewed from a vertical surfaceincluding the line B-B in FIG. 5;

[0021]FIG. 13 is a conceptual view of the carrier mechanism in FIG. 6;

[0022]FIG. 14 is a side view when viewed from the vertical surfaceincluding the line B-B in FIG. 5 when a bare disk is received therein;

[0023]FIG. 15 is a plan view of the key section along the horizontalsurface including the line A-A in FIG. 2 when the bare disk is receivedtherein;

[0024]FIG. 16 is a plan view of the key section along the horizontalsurface including the line A-A in FIG. 2 when the bare disk is centeredon a turntable;

[0025]FIG. 17 is a plan view of the key section along the horizontalsurf ace including the line A-A in FIG. 2 when the bare disk is receivedtherein;

[0026]FIG. 18 is a plan view of the key section along the horizontalsurface including the line A-A in FIG. 2 when the bare disk is centeredon a turntable;

[0027]FIG. 19 is a plan view of the key section along the horizontalsurface including the line A-A in FIG. 2 when the bare disk is ejectedtherefrom;

[0028]FIG. 20 is a side view when viewed from the vertical surfaceincluding the line B-B in FIG. 5 when a cartridge disk contacts thecover;

[0029]FIG. 21 is a side view when viewed from the vertical surfaceincluding the line B-B in FIG. 5 when the cartridge disk is receivedtherein;

[0030]FIG. 22 is a side view when viewed from the vertical surfaceincluding the line B-B in FIG. 5 when the cartridge disk is receivedfurther received therein than the state shown in FIG. 21;

[0031]FIG. 23 is a side view when viewed from the vertical surfaceincluding the line B-B in FIG. 5 when the cartridge disk contacts thelock arm assembly for ejection;

[0032]FIG. 24 is a side view when viewed from the vertical surfaceincluding the line B-B in FIG. 5 when the edge of the cartridge diskprojects from the slot for ejection;

[0033]FIG. 25 is a plan view of the key section along the horizontalsurface including the line A-A in FIG. 2 when the cartridge disk isreceived therein;

[0034]FIG. 26 is a plan view of the key section along the horizontalsurface including the line A-A in FIG. 2 when the cartridge disk is heldby a guide assembly; and

[0035]FIG. 27 is a plan view of the key section along the horizontalsurface including the line A-A in FIG. 2 when the cartridge disk iscentered on the turntable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

[0036] A description is made hereinafter of a font-loading disk playeras an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attacheddrawings.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 1, a slot 4 having a width and a height so as toreceive therein and eject therefrom a cartridge disk 3 such as a DVD-R/Wdisk mounted in a cartridge. The slot 4 is provided in a front panelsection 2 of a player housing 1 and extends in a side-to-side directionwhen viewed from the front surface of the player. Herein, the directionshown by an arrow X is a front side, the direction shown by an arrow Yis a rear side, and the direction shown by an arrow Z is an upper side.The cartridge disk 3 has a shutter 3 b for exposing a disk therein byopening/closing the shutter from side to side.

[0038] A cover 5 is provided adjacent to the slot 4 in the housing 1 andblocks the slot 2 from the interior side of the front panel section 2 soas to open freely. A lock mechanism described later is provided in thecover 5 so that the cover opens only on insertion and ejection of thecartridge disk 3. On the other hand, insertion and ejection of a disksuch as a 12 cm-diameter bare disk 6 and an 8 cm-diameter bare disk 7 isexecuted through a slit 8 provided on the cover 5, thus the cover 5 doesnot need to be opened for insertion and ejection of an unprotected disk.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 2 through FIG. 5, a cover member 5 a forming acover assembly has a pair of rotary shafts 5 a 1, 5 a 1′ provided in thelower section of both edge sections of the member 5 a, and the rotaryshafts 5 a 1, 5 a 1′ are cylindrical projections each extending outwardin parallel with the X direction. The cover member 5 a is pivotallyfixed to a pair of stays 2 a, 2 a′ provided on the rear surface of thefront panel section 2 and extending rearward from the section 2 adjacentto the lower section of the slot 4 through the rotary shafts 5 a 1, 5 a1′. Torsion springs 12, 12′ are wound around the rotary shafts 5 a 1, 5a 1′ and urge the cover member 5 a to close on block the slot 4.Accordingly, the peripheral section of the cover member 5 a contacts theperipheral section of the opening of the slot 4 to block the slot 4unless the cover member 5 a is pushed from the outside, i.e., the frontof the panel. Furthermore, the cover member 5 a has a pair of open/closearms 5 a 2, 5 a 2′ provided adjacent to the rotary shafts 5 a 1, 5 a 1′and extending rearward. The open/close arms 5 a 2, 5 a 2′ are pusheddownward in response to the operation described later of ejecting thecartridge. The cover member 5 a pivots rearward around an axis definedby the rotary shafts 5 a 1, 5 a 1′ and the slot 4 opens. Furthermore,both edge sections of the cover member 5 a each project rearward to forma pair of open/close stopper surfaces 5 a 3, 5 a 3′ respectively. A slit8 extending in a side-to-side direction and through which the bare disks6 and 7 can be inserted is provided at the center of the cover member 5a. A horizontal-level holding member 11 to keep the disk in a horizontallevel and for holding the bare disk 6 or 7 from the upper and lowersides is provided at the center of the rear surface of the cover member5 a, and keeps the disk level while the bare disk is being inserted orejected. Front insertion sections of unlocking rivets 10 are insertedinto through holes 5 a 4, 5 a 4′ provided adjacent to both edge sectionsof the cover member 5 a from the rear surface thereof respectively, andslightly project from the cover member 5 a. The unlocking rivet 10 is asubstantially rectangular parallelepiped longitudinal in thefront-to-back direction, and a bottom surface 10 b of a rear projectingsection 10 a is a plane inclined toward an intermediate directionbetween the rear direction, namely the Y direction and Z direction. Eachunlocking rivet 10 is biased frontward by a plate spring which is notshown in the figure, and each step section of the rear projectingsections 1 a contacts each lower section of the peripheral sections ofeach opening of the through holes 5 a 4, 5 a 4′. With the configurationdescribed above, the unlocking rivets 10 are pushed rearward by externalforce due to insertion of a disk-mounted cartridge or the like and thecover member 5 a is unlocked. This point will be described later indetail.

[0040] A pair of lock arm assemblies 9, 9′ are fixed pivotally to theplayer housing 1 around the pivot in the X-axial direction through stays13, 13′ (Refer to FIG. 6) which are provided in the rear side of thecover 5, fixed to the bottom surface of the player housing 1, andextended upward as well as through fixed chassis 20, 20′ describedlater. The lock arm assembly 9 located in the left side when viewed fromthe front side comprises a substantially U-shaped lock arm 9 a extendingfrontward, a stopper arm 9 b extending from an edge section of one legof the lock arm 9 a downward, and rotary shafts 9 c 1 and 9 c 2 eachextending outward from the side section in a direction parallel with theX axis. The rotary shafts 9 c 1 and 9 c 2 are cylindrical projectionsextending outward from both side of the lock arm member 9 in a directionparallel with the X axis and each is formed integrally with the lock armmember 9. The rotary shaft 9 c 1 is wound with a torsion spring 14, andthe lock arm 9 a gives a bias force to the lock arm assembly 9 in thedirection to which the lock arm 9 a swings upward, while the stopper arm9 b keeps contact with a stopper section 13 a of the stay 13 as far asthe cover member 5 a blocks the slot 4. Therefore, the lock arm 9 a iskept at an extended horizontal position. A portion of a U-shaped bottomsection of the lock arm 9 a forms an inclined section 9 a 1 with adownwardly inclined surface extending toward the cover assembly 5 formedas the top surface thereof, and a concave section 9 a 2 openingdownwardly is formed in an area adjacent to the inclined section 9 a 1.The inclined section 9 a 1, in a state where the cover member 5 a blocksthe slot 4, slidably contacts the bottom section 10 b of the rearprojecting section 10 a of the unlocking rivet 10 from the lower sidethereof, while the front edge of the lock arm 9 a contacts theopen/close stopper surface 5 a 3 of the cover member 5 a. The concavesection 9 a 2 contacts the open/close arm 5 a 2 from the upper sidethereof (herein, the top surface of the open/close arms 5 a 2, 5 a 2′ ispreferably a smoothly-curved surface). In addition, the top surface of alinkage section of the lock arm assembly 9 to the stopper arm 9 b has asliding inclined surface 9 d which is inclined upwardly from the rearedge section of the assembly 9 over the position exceeding a linelinking the rotary shafts 9 c 1 and 9 c 2. With this feature, the lockarm 9 rotates downward around the rotary shafts 9 c 1 and 9 c 2 as apivot when the force to push the lock arm assembly 9 frontward while acartridge (not shown) is sliding along and in contact with the slidinginclined surface 9 d is effected on the operation described later ofejecting the cartridge.

[0041] Since the lock arm assembly 9′ located in the right side whenviewed from the front side is a mirror image to the lock arm assembly 9located in the left side, description thereof is omitted.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 6 through FIG. 11, provided in the rear side ofthe lock arm assemblies 9, 9′ is a disk carrier mechanism for carrying adisk supplied through the slot 4 to a playing position. This diskcarrier mechanism is fixed to the bottom of the player housing 1 andincludes a pair of fixed chassis sections 20, 20′ extending in thevertical direction with respect to the bottom and the front panel 2.

[0043] The fixed chassis 20 located in the left side when viewed fromthe front side has reverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a and 20 b formed witha space therebetween in the front-to-back direction. Thereverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a and 20 b are reverse-L-shaped throughholes having the same form as each other and each having a horizontalsection horizontally extending rearward in the Y direction and avertical section which is continuously formed to the horizontal sectionand extends downward at right angles thereto. The fixed chassis 20′located in the right side has the same form as the fixed chassis 20 inthe left side and has reverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a′ and 20 b′ formedwith a space therebetween in the front-to-back direction. A stiffeningrib 20 d is provided along the center section of the chassis 20.

[0044] A carrier member 30 is formed by bending a metal sheet and has asubstantially U-shaped cross section opening downward. A top section 30a provided over the fixed chassis 20, 20′ has a cutout section 30 a 1opening rearward. Each of a pair of pins 31, 32, and 31′, 32′ projectingoutward and parallel with the X axis are positioned with a space betweeneach of the pair in the front-to-back direction as well as in thevertical direction in a pair of right and left downward-bent sections 30b and 30 b′ provided inside of the fixed chassis section 20, 20′ andextending in parallel with the chassis section.

[0045] A pair of rack members 70, 70′ are located outside of the fixedchassis sections 20, 20′ and extend in parallel with the fixed chassissections 20, 20′ respectively. The rack member 70 located in the leftside when viewed from the front side has inclined cam holes 70 a and 70b formed with a space therebetween in the front-to-back direction. Theinclined cam holes 70 a and 70 b are through holes each forming ahorizontal section horizontally extending rearward in the Y directionand an inclined section which is continuously formed to the horizontalsection and extends rearward with inclination thereof upward. The rackmember 70′ located in the right side has the same form as the rackmember 70 and has inclined cam holes 70 a′ and 70 b′ formed with a spacetherebetween in the front-to-back direction. Rack gears 70 c, 70 c′ areformed on the top of the rack member 70, 70′ respectively. A shaft 71extends in the direction of both sides to be pivotally supported by thefixed chassis sections 20, 20′, and pinion gears 72, 72′ are fixed toboth edge sections of the shaft 71 respectively. The pinion gears 72,72′ engage the rack gears 70 c, 70 c′ respectively, and a driving unitis connected to the pinion gear 72′ through a power transmission unitlike a belt (not shown) from a motor 1 c. With this configuration, whenthe motor 1 c is actuated to rotate the pinion gear 72′, the rackmembers 70, 70′ reciprocate in synchronism with the pinion gear.

[0046] The carrier pins 31, 32, 31′, 32′ positioned in the right andleft downward-bent sections 30 b, 30 b′ of the carrier member 30 projectand extend outward through the reverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a, 20 b, 20a′, 20 b′ of the fixed chassis sections 20, 20′, and slidably engage theinclined cam holes 70 a, 70 b, 70 a′, 70 b′ of the rack members 70, 70′respectively. In the initial state, the carrier pins 31, 32, 31′, 32′are positioned slightly backward from each front edge section of thereverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a, 20 b, 20 a′, 20 b′ of the fixed chassissections 20, 20′ as well as positioned at each rear edge section of theinclined cam holes 70 a, 70 b, 70 a′, 70 b′ of the rack members 70, 70′respectively.

[0047] A disk supporting mechanism for supporting a disk to be carriedis provided inside the carrier member 30. The disk supporting mechanismincludes a pair of plate guides 33, 33′, and the plate guides 33, 33′are each a rectangular parallelepiped block extending in the Y directionand are fixed to the inner sides of the right and left downward-bentsections 30 b, 30 b′ of the carrier member 30. The plate guide 33′ inthe right side has a first slit 33 a′ and a second slit 33 b′ providedon a side face opposite to the surface in contact with the carriermember 30 with a space therebetween in the vertical direction extendingparallel to the Y direction. The first slit 33 a′ and second slit 33 b′are grooves each of which has an opening inside thereof and which startat positions 33 a 1′, 33 b 1′ slightly backward from the front edgesection of the plate guide 33′ as each starting point thereofrespectively (Refer to FIG. 9). The plate guide 33 in the left side hasthe same configuration as described above.

[0048] As shown in the details in FIG. 8, a flat arm plate 40 extendsacross the pair of first slits 33 a, 33 a′ provided in the plate guides33, 33′ and engages the slits so that the plate can slide to and fro.Projections 40 a, 40 a′ projecting at both edge sections in the rearside of the arm plate 40 are connected to projections 30 c, 30 c′projecting from both edge sections in the front side of the carriermember 30 with springs 34, 34′ respectively, so that the arm plate 40 isurged frontward. Accordingly, the front edges of the arm plate 40contact the front edges 33 a 1 and 33 a 1′ of the first slits 33 a, 33a′ in the plate guides 33, 33′ respectively. Notches 40 b, 40 b′extending rearward are formed at positions adjacent to both of the edgesections in the front side of the arm plate 40. Furthermore, arc-shapedholes 40 c, 40 c′ each forming a part of an arc are formed in thedirection of a center line with each starting point of the holes at aninternal side from the notches 40 b, 40 b′. Furthermore, a lock plate 41is pivotally supported by the arm plate 40 around a pivot 41 apositioned between the notch 40 b′ and the starting point of thearc-shaped hole 40 c′, and the lock plate is biased for rotation in theclockwise direction when viewed from the upper side by a bias unit and astopper unit (not shown) therein, and is extended in the direction ofboth sides thereof. A hook-shaped edge 41 b in the left side of the lockplate 41 is located on the arc-shaped hole 40 c′, and one edge 41 cthereof in the right side is located on the notch 40 b′. A switch (notshown) for detecting release of engagement with a hold arm 43 bdescribed later is engaged with the lock plate 41. Furthermore, the armplate 40 has a cutout section 40 d opening frontward between thearc-shaped holes 40 c, 40 c′. There is a tongue section 40 f extendingdownward near the cutout section 40 d.

[0049] A hold arm assembly 43 includes substantially-L-shaped first armmember 43 a and second arm member 43 b each extends rearward and iscontinuously bent to the inner side thereof. The first and second armmembers 43 a, 43 b are connected to each other at the rear edgesthereof. The first arm member 43 a comprises a main arm section 43 a 1extending rearward and continuously bent to the right side, and abranched arm section 43 a 2 which is branched at a bent section andextends slightly more toward the rear side than the main arm section 43a 1. The main arm section 43 a 1 has a step inclined frontward andupward, and a disk guide tip 44 extending downward is pivotally fixed tothe bottom surface of an edge section in the front side thereof. An armreset pin 45 and guide pin 46 are provided to extend upwardly betweenthe front edge section and the bent section of the main arm section 43 a1. The pin 45 is held and biased upwardly by a plate spring. A linkagepin 47 is provided to upward at the rear edge section of the main armsection 43 a 1. Load pin 48, 48′ are positioned to extend downward atthe rear edge section of the branched arm section 43 a 2 as well as atthe front side therefrom. The first arm member 43 a is rotatablyattached to the bottom surface of the arm plate 40 around a pivot 43 a 3near the bent section. A disk guide tip 44′ extending downward isrotatably attached to the bottom surface of an edge section in the frontside of the second arm member 43 b so that the guide tip is rotatablyfixed thereto. The second arm member 43 b has a guide pin 46 which ispositioned to extend upward at a midpoint between the front edge sectionand the bent section thereof. In addition, the second arm member 43 bhas an elongated slot or hole 43 b 1 at the rear edge section thereof toslidably engaged with the linkage pin 47 of the first arm member 43 a. Aspring 49 is provided across a projection 43 b 2 adjacent to the rearedge section of the second arm member 43 b and a projection 40 e 1 of atongue section 40 e having a slope extending slightly downward towardthe rear side from the arm plate 40. The second arm member 43 b isrotatably attached to the bottom surface of the arm plate 40 around apivot 43 b 3 near the bent section. The two guide pins 46, 46′ of thefirst and second arm members 43 a, 43 b are slidably engaged with thearc-shaped holes 40 c, 40 c′ of the arm plate 40 respectively.Furthermore, the guide pin 46′ projects from the top surface of the armplate 40 through the arc-shaped hole 40 c′ to be engaged with thehook-shaped edge 41 b of the lock plate 41. With the configurationdescribed above, the first and second arm members 43 a, 43 b pivotconcurrently and in the opposite direction to each other at the rotationaxes 43 a 3, 43 b 3 each as a fulcrum to move the disk guide tips 44,44′ at the front edge sections in the direction of both sides so as toclose or separate the guide tips to and from each other, so that thedisk 6 or 7 can be held or released from the sides thereof. In addition,an arm reset plate 22 having a groove 22 a to guide the arm reset pin 45of the hold arm assembly 43 is fixed to the bottom surface of a frontbridge plate 21 formed across the front edge sections of the fixedchassis sections 20, 20′.

[0050] As shown in detail in FIG. 9, a flat centering plate 50 extendsacross the pair of second slits 33 b, 33 b′ provided in the plate guides33, 33′ and can slide to and fro with respect to the slits. An arm 50 aextending rearward is provided in the left rear side of the centeringplate 50, and a spring 35 is provided across a projection at the edgethereof and a projection 33 c is provided in the plate guide 33.Therefore the centering plate 50 is urged frontward to contact the frontedges 33 b 1 and 33 b 1′ of the second slits 33 b, 33 b′. The centeringplate 50 has stopper pins 51, 51′ positioned to extend upward at bothedge sections in the front side thereof. A centering load arm 50 bextending rearward is rotatably supported by the centering plate in theleft rear side thereof, and a centering load pin 52 is positioned toextend downward at the edge thereof. The arm 50 b is biased clockwisearound a pivot 50 b 1 as viewed from the upper side, and a stopper (notshown) contacts the rear edge of the centering plate 50, so that the arm50 b is maintained such that the arm is directed rearward. Furthermore,a guide ring 53 formed with three members is fixed to the bottom surfaceof the centering plate 50.

[0051] An elongated slot 54 extending in the Y direction is provided inthe right side of the centering plate 50. A disk push plate 55 and apull arm guide plate 56 made to a set by a rivet (not shown) passingthrough the slot 54 hold the centering plate 50 from the lower side andthe upper side to be linked to each other, and the plates 55 and 56 areslidable with respect to the centering plate 50 in the front-to-backdirection, in the Y direction.

[0052] As described above, the stopper pins 51, 51′ project upwardly atboth edge sections in the front side of the centering plate 50, and canbe freely engaged in the notches 40 b, 40 b′ of the arm plate 40.Therefore, the arm plate 40 is moved rearward in association withmovement of the centering plate 50. Furthermore, the stopper pin 51′rearward extends through the arm plate 40 passing through the notch 40b′, and contacts the edge 41 c of the lock plate 41 pivotally attachedto the arm plate 40 above the notch 40 b′ from the front side.

[0053] The guide ring 53 is formed with three members, in which each oflarge-diameter guide rings 53 a and 53 c is an arc-shaped body having acurved groove contacting the edge of the disk 6 having a diameter of 12cm, and a small-diameter guide ring 53 b is an arc-shaped body having acurved groove contacting the edge of the disk 7 having a diameter of 8cm. The guide rings are spaced and fixed to the bottom surface of thecentering plate 50 in the order of the large-diameter guide ring 53 a,small-diameter guide ring 53 b, and large-diameter guide ring 53 c fromthe left side. The guide rings 53 a, 53 b, 53 c have tongue-shapedsections 53 a 1, 53 b 1, 53 c 1 each projecting rearward, and a spacer(not shown) for making a space is provided between the tongue-shapedsections 53 a 1, 53 b 1, 53 c 1 and the centering plate 50, and thesections are fixed to the centering plate 50 with a space therebetween.The set of the disk push plate 55 and the pull arm guide plate 56 isslidably engaged in the slot 54 of the centering plate 50, and a pair ofdisk guide flanges 55 a, 55 a′ extending downwardly is fixed to thebottom surface of the disk push plate 55. A spring 57 is provided acrossa projection 55 b in the rear side of the disk push plate 55 and aprojection 50 c is in the rear side of the centering plate 50.Accordingly, the disk push plate 55 is accommodated in a space betweenthe above mentioned centering plate 50 and guide ring 53 b. The pair ofdisk guide flanges 55 a, 55 a′ are positioned in spaces between theguide rings 53 a and 53 b and between the guide rings 53 b and 53 crespectively. The pull arm guide plate 56 has an arm section provided bybending the front edge section of the plate to the left side, and a slot56 a is formed on the arm section.

[0054] A substantially L-shaped pull arm plate 58 formed with two longand short arms is supported at a bending section 58 a of the plate bythe centering plate 50 on the left side thereof, and a pin 59 ispositioned to extend upward at the edge section of the long arm 58 bextending to the right side so as to be slidably engaged in the slot 56a of the pull arm guide plate 56. A cam lock plate spring 60 for alarge-diameter disk and a cam lock plate spring 61 for a small-diameterdisk each extend to the left side with a spaced therebetween and arefixed to the short arm 58 c of the pull arm plate 58. Dome-shapedprojections 62 and 63 are provided and extend upward on each tip sectionof the cam lock plates 60, 61 respectively. The centering plate 50 hasan cutout section 50 d opening frontward.

[0055] A pair of cartridge guide members 65, 65′ each have a channelshape opening toward the upper side of a substantially U-shaped crosssection thereof, and are fixed to each inner side of the downward-bentsections 30 b, 30 b′ of the carrier member 30 as well as to each lowersection of the plate guides 33, 33′ so as to extend in parallel witheach other. Escape grooves 65 a, 65 a′ opening toward the upper side ofthe cartridge guide members 65, 65′ are grooves used for the disk guidetips 44, 44′ of the hold arm assembly 43 and passing therethrough movingrearward together with the arm plate 50 when the arm plate 50 movesrearward. The escape grooves 65 a, 65 a′ preferably exist in inner sidesmore than the inner plane of the plate guides 33, 33′. Furthermore, apair of cartridge guide grooves 65 b, 65 b′ each for guiding a cartridgedisk 3 are formed in each inner side of the cartridge guide members 65,65′. The cartridge guide grooves 65 b, 65 b′ are shorter in length inthe Y direction than that of the cartridge guide members 65, 65′, and acartridge lock 66 for being engaged in the concave section 3 a′ (Referto FIG. 1) of the cartridge disk 3 loaded along the cartridge guidegroove 65 b′ to lock the cartridge disk 3 is provided further in therear side than the rear edge of the cartridge guide groove 65 b′.

[0056] The cartridge lock 66 is provided on the upper surface of thebottom section of the cartridge guide member 65′ and pivotally supportedby the bottom section around a pivot 66 a. A spring 67 is providedacross a projection 66 b 1 at an edge section 66 b of the cartridge lock66 and a projection 50 e in the rear side of the centering plate 50, andwhen the centering plate 50 is moved rearward in response to insertionof a cartridge disk 3, the edge section 66 b of the cartridge lock 66projects to the inner side of the cartridge guide groove 65 b′ becauseof tension of the spring 67 to securely hold the cartridge disk 3.Furthermore, a switch 68 for detecting that the cartridge disk 3 hasheld the cartridge disk 3 is engaged with the cartridge lock 66.

[0057] As shown in the details in FIG. 10, a shutter release mechanismfor releasing the shutter 3 b of a cartridge to permit a disk inside tobe played is provided on a longitudinal rear bridge plate 23 formedacross the rear edge sections of the fixed chassis sections 20, 20′. Anarm supporting member 80 is rotatably attached to the bottom surface ofthe rear bridge plate 23 around a pivot 80 a 1 of a pair 80 a of a pinand a boss as well as slidably in the axial direction. A spring 81 isprovided across a projection on the arm supporting member 80 extendingupward from a front section adjacent to the pivot 80 a 1 and aprojection 23 a extending downward from the plate 23. The edge of theprojection 23 a contacts the side of the arm supporting member 80, andthe arm supporting member 80 is kept at a position such that the membershould be biased in a frontward clockwise direction as viewed from theupper side. The shutter open/close arm 82 is swingably supported by thefront section of the arm supporting member 80 around a pivot 82 aadjacent to the rear edge section of the shutter open/close arm 82 asfar as a stay 80 b extending upward. A torsion spring 83 is providedaround the pivot 82 a to provide rotational bias thereto and pivot thefront edge of the shutter open/close arm 82 upward, and further theshutter open/close arm 82 is kept at a position such that the arm 82should be directed frontward by a stopper (not shown). An open/closelever 84 is engaged with the shutter 3 b of the cartridge disk 3 to openthe cartridge and is fixed to the front edge section of the shutteropen/close arm 82 so that the lever extends downward, and an up-and-downlever 85 is fixed to the rear edge section thereof so that the leverextends downward.

[0058] As shown in the details in FIG. 11, a disk positioning mechanismis provided on the bottom surface of the player housing 1 in the leftrear side of the player housing 1 of data. The mechanism positions adisk to a playing unit 1 a for recording and reproduction. An escape ormoving plate 90 is rotatably supported around a pivot 90 a by a stay 91extending upward from the bottom surface of the player housing 1. In therear side from this pivot 90 a, a spring 92 is provided between theescape plate 90 and the bottom surface of the player housing 1 to biasthe escape plate 90 upward, while a stopper pin 93 is provided to extenddownward at the front edge of the escape plate 90 and contacts theplayer housing 1. Therefore, the escape or moving plate 90 extends inparallel with the bottom surface of the player housing 1. Furthermore anescape guide 94 for moving the escape plate 90 downward is fixed to theescape plate 90 through a release bracket 95. Guide pins 96 a, 96 b arespaced from each other and positioned to extend upward, and are slidablyengaged to reciprocate in two slots 97 a, 97 b formed in a drive plate97 with a space therebetween. A lever 97 c extending to the side isformed in the edge section of the drive plate 97, and the lever 97 cextends outward through a window section 20 c of the fixed chassissection 20 and can be contacted with an edge 70 d of the rack member 70.A load plate 98 slidably supported on the drive plate 97 and biased by aspring has a pin 99 extending upward at the front edge section thereof.A load arm member 100 is vertically-elastically linked to the escape ormoveable plate 90 through a spring 110 a and further rotatably liked toa pin 101 around the axis thereof. The pin 99 is slidably engaged in aslot 100 a of the load arm member 100. A pull plate 102 is fixed to aposition apart from the pin 101 as a pivot of the load arm member 100.The pull plate 102 has a slot 102 a extending in both sides provided inthe front side and a slot 102 b in the rear side thereof. With theconfiguration described above, when the lever 97 c is moved rearward,the pull plate 102 pivots rearward around the pin 101 as a pivot. Thismovement will be described later in detail.

[0059] Next a description is provided for operations of thefront-loading disk player configured as described above. At first, therewill be specifically described loading of a disk when the disk to beplayed is a 12 cm-diameter bare disk 6.

[0060]FIG. 12 and FIG. 14 shows a sequence of disk loading.

[0061] As shown in FIG. 12, when a disk is not inserted in the player,the cover member 5 a blocks the slot 4. Even if an operator pushes apart of the cover member 5 a, the cover 5 does not open because the edgesections of the inclined sections 9 a 1, 9 a 1′ of the lock arm members9, 9′ located in both sides thereof contact the open/close stoppersurfaces 5 a 3, 5 a 3′ of the cover member 5 a.

[0062] As shown in FIG. 13, in the state before the disk 6 is insertedin, the carrier pins 31, 32, 31′, 32′ positioned in the carrier member30 are located each slightly rearward from each front edge of thereverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a, 20 b, 20 a′, 20 b′ of the fixed chassis20, 20′, and located at each rear edge of the inclined cam holes 70 a,70 b, 70 a′, 70 b′ of the rack members 70, 70′.

[0063] As shown in FIG. 14, when the disk 6 is inserted into the slit 8provided on the cover member 5 a, the disk 6 is held by thehorizontal-level holding member 11 provided in the rear side of the slit8, and kept in the horizontal level. Therefore, when the operatorfurther pushes the disk 6 thereinto, the disk 6 surely meets the grooveof the guide ring 53 with the disk horizontally kept.

[0064] As shown in FIG. 15, when the disk 6 is further pushed thereinto,the guide ring 53 is pushed into the rear side, which makes thecentering plate 50 move rearward. The pin 51′ positioned in the front ofthe centering plate 50 moves the edge 41 c of the lock plate 41 rearwardwhile engaged with the edge 41 c. Accordingly, the lock plate 41 pivotsaround the pivot 41 a, and the engagement of the hook-shaped edge 41 bwith the guide pin 46 on the hold arm 43 is released. Herein, since thespring 49 gives a force to make front sections of the hold arms 43 a, 43b approach each other thereto, the hold arms 43 a, 43 b rotate in theopposite direction to each other around the pivot 43 a 3 and 43 b 3while sliding the guide pins 46, 46′ along the arc-shaped holes 40 c, 40c 1′ of the arm plate 40 respectively. Therefore, the disk guide tips44, 44′ provided at the front edge sections of the hold arms 43 a, 43 bmeet the side section of the disk 6, and the side section of the disk 6are put into the grooves of the large-diameter guide rings 53 a, 53 c ofthe guide ring 53. On the other hand, concurrently when the lock plate41 pivots, a switch (not shown) engaged therewith is turned ON, thedrive motor 1 c engaged with the rack member 70′ is actuated, and thecarrier mechanism is actuated.

[0065] As shown in FIGS. 13 and 16, when the disk 6 is loaded, the lockplate 41 pivots, the switch (not shown therein) is turned ON, and thedrive motor 1 c runs as described above. Then, the rack members 70, 70′are moved rearward in synchronism with each other, the carrier pins 31,32, 31′, 32′ go rearward while sliding along each horizontal section ofthe reverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a, 20 b, 20 a′, 20 b′ without changingeach relative position to the inclined cam holes 70 a, 70 b, 70 a′, 70b′. When the carrier pins 31, 32, 31′, 32′ reach each rear edge of thehorizontal sections of the reverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a, 20 b, 20 a′,20 b′, the carrier pins 31, 32, 31′, 32′ go down along each verticalsection of the reverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a, 20 b, 20 a′, 20 b′ whilesliding along each inclined section of the inclined cam holes 70 a, 70b, 70 a′, 70 b′. Accordingly, the carrier member 30 also moves down. Thecentering load pin 52 of the centering load arm 50 b swingably providedin the centering plate 50 is slidably engaged in the slot 102 a of thepull plate 102, and, on the other hand, the arm load pin 48 in the rearside of the hold arm 43 is also slidably engaged in the slot 102 a ofthe pull plate 102. When the rack members 70, 70′ are moved furtherrearward, the edge 70 d of the rack member 70 meets the lever 97 c ofthe drive plate 97 projecting outward passing through the window section20 c of the fixed chassis section 20 to move the lever 97 c rearward. Insynchronism with the movement, the drive plate 97 and the load plate 98therewith energized by the spring also move rearward. Since the pin 99pivots the road arm member 100 through the slot 100 a, the pull plate102 pivots rearward around the pin 101 as a pivot. Accordingly, both ofthe centering plate 50 and hold arm 43 are moved rearward by the pullplate 102, and the central position of the disk 6 reaches the centralposition of the turntable 1 a. Herein, a damper 1 b moves down from theupper side by the up-and-down mechanism not shown therein engaged withthe rack members 70, 70′, and the turntable 1 a and the damper 1 b holdthe disk 6 from the upper and lower sides to achieve clamping.

[0066] In association with movement of the rack members 70, 70′ furtherrearward, the pins 31, 32, 31′, 32′ reach each lower edge of thevertical sections of the reverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a, 20 b, 20 a′,20 b′ and stop thereat, and only the rack members 70, 70′ move alongeach horizontal section of the inclined cam holes 70 a, 70 b, 70 a′, 70b′ while sliding together with the pins 31, 32, 31′, 32′. Therefore, thepull plate 102 pivots further rearward to move the arm plate 40 and thecentering plate 50 further rearward. Accordingly, the disk 6 isdisengaged from the disk guide tips 44, 44′ as well as from the guiderings 53 a, 53 c. With those operations, playing will be effected.

[0067] For ejecting the disk 6 after playing is finished, the drivemotor 1 c is rotated backward according to an operation of an ejectswitch 1 d by the operator, the rack members 70, 70′ go frontward, thelever 97 c of the drive plate 97 returns to the original position, andthe pull plate 102 also returns to the original position. Therefore, thefirst and second arm members 43 a, 43 b forming the hold arm assembly 43pivot so as to approach each other and hold the side section of the disk6 with the disk guide tips 44, 44′ again, and the centering plate 50also returns to the original position, the large-guide rings 35 a, 35 cand the edge of the disk 6 are engaged with each other, and the disk isheld.

[0068] Then, as clearly understood from FIG. 13, the pins 31, 32, 31′,32′ move upward while sliding along each inclined section of theinclined cam holes 70 a, 70 b, 70 a′, 70 b′ as well as each verticalsection of the reverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a, 20 b, 20 a′, 20 b′, andthe damper is released by the up-and-down mechanism not shown therein.Furthermore, when reaching each rear edge of the inclined cam holes 70a, 70 b, 70 a′, 70 b′, the pins 31, 32, 31′, 32′ go frontward whilesliding each horizontal section of the reverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a,20 b, 20 a′, 20 b′. Then, the front edge of the disk 6 is inserted intothe horizontal-level holding member 11, the arm reset pin 45 of the holdarm assembly 43 is inserted into the groove 22 a of the arm reset plate22 fixed to the bottom surface of the front bridge plate 21 to be movedto the left side along the groove, so that the hold arm assembly 43releases the disk. With this operation, the guide pin 46′ of the secondarm member 43 b is engaged in the lock plate 41 and the second armmember 43 b is locked. On the other hand, since the left side of thefirst arm member 43 a is engaged with the projection 62 on the cam lockplate 60 fixed to the pull arm plate 58, the pull arm plate 58 pivots inthe clockwise direction viewed from the upper side around the pivot 58a. Then, since the pin 59 at the edge of the pull arm plate 58 isengaged in the slot 56 a of the arm guide plate 56, the arm guide plate56 and the disk push plate 55 fixed thereto are pushed frontward fromthe storage position between the centering plate 50 and the guide ring53 b. The pair of disk guide flanges 55 a, 55 a′ fixed to the disk pushplate 55 meet the edge of the disk 6 to push the disk frontward, and theedge of the disk 6 is exposed to frontward of the front panel 2 throughthe slit 8. Furthermore, when the rack members 70, 70′ go frontward, thearm reset pin 45 meets the front edge of the groove 22 a of the armreset plate 22, and forward movement of the arm assembly 43 is stopped.When the rack members 70 and 70′ go further frontward, the projection 62of the cam lock plate 60 as a plate spring is disconnected from the edgeof the first arm member 43 a, so that the projection 62 and the firstarm member 43 a are disengaged from each other. The pull arm plate 58,disk push plate 55, and arm guide plate 56 return to each originalposition at the same time by means of restoring force of the spring 57.A switch (not shown) engaged with the rack members 70′ is turned ON atthe position, the drive motor 1 c is rotated backward to return the rackmembers 70, 70′ to the position where the disk 6 is loaded, and theswitch is turned OFF, through which the operation is complete.

[0069] Next, detailed description is made for disk loading when a diskto be played is a bare disk 7 with a diameter of 8 cm. FIG. 17, FIG. 18,and FIG. 19 show the loading sequence.

[0070] As shown in FIG. 17, when the bare disk 7 is inserted into theslit 8 provided in the cover 5 by the operator, similar to the case ofloading of the 12 cm-diameter disk 6, the disk 7 meets the groove of thedisk guide ring 53 through the horizontal-level holding member 11. Whenthe operator further pushes the disk thereinto, the centering plate 50is moved rearward through the disk guide ring 53, the hold arm assembly43 is unlocked, and the first and second arm members 43 a, 43 b pivotaround the rotation axes 43 a 3, 43 b 3 in the opposite direction toeach other. The disk guide tips 44, 44′ provided at the front edgesections of the first and second arm members 43 a, 43 b meet the sideand front section of the disk 7. Furthermore, the disk 7 is held withthe side section thereof put into the small-diameter guide ring 53 blocated in the rear side while sliding the side section of the disk 7along the groove of the large-diameter guide ring 53 a or 53 c.

[0071] Similar to the case of the disk 6, the carrier mechanism startsto run at the instant when the switch not shown is turned ON in responseto pivoting of the lock plate 41, and moves down along each verticalsection of the reverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a, 20 b, 20 a′, 20 b′ whilesliding along each inclined section of the inclined cam holes 70 a, 70b, 70 a′, 70 b′, and the carrier member 30 also moves down.

[0072] However, as shown in FIG. 18, since the diameter of the disk 7 issmaller than that of the disk 6, the distance between the front edgesection of the hold arm assembly 43 is narrow, therefore the branchedarm section 43 a of the first arm member 43 a is positioned in the leftside than the case of the disk 6, and further the arm load pin 48′contacts the centering load arm 50 b provided under the pin from theright side to move the centering load arm 50 b in the counterclockwisedirection viewed from the upper side around the pivot 50 a. Because ofthis, the centering load pin 52 and the arm load pin 48 do not engagethe pull plate 102. Namely, the centering plate 50 and the arm plate 40are not pulled rearward by movement of the rack members 70, 70′, but thedisk 6 is centered on the turntable 1 a with the plates kept as theyare, and then the disk 7 is held by the damper 1 b and the turntable 1 afrom the upper and lower sides. With those operations, playing will beeffected.

[0073] For ejecting the disk 7 after playing is finished, the drivemotor 1 c is rotated backward according to an operation of an ejectswitch 2 c by the operator, the rack members 70, 70′ go frontward. Thepins 31, 32, 31′, 32′ move upward while sliding along each inclinedsection of the inclined cam holes 70 a, 70 b, 70 a′, 70 b′ as well aseach vertical section of the reverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a, 20 b, 20a′, 20 b′, and the clamper is released. Furthermore, the pins 31, 32,31′, 32′ meet each rear edge of the inclined cam holes 70 a, 70 b, 70a′, 70 b′, and go frontward while sliding each horizontal section of thereverse-L-shaped cam holes 20 a, 20 b, 20 a′, 20 b′. The arm reset pin45 of the hold arm assembly 43 is inserted into the groove 22 a of thearm reset plate 22 fixed to the bottom surface of the front bridge plate21, and the arm reset pin 45 moves to the left side along the groove,then the hold arm assembly 43 releases the holding of the disk. Withthis operation, the guide pin 46′ of the second arm member 43 b isengaged in the lock plate 41 and the second arm member 43 b is locked.

[0074] As shown in FIG. 19, since the disk 7 has the diameter smallerthan that of the disk 6, the left side of the first arm member 43 a isengaged with the projection 63 on the cam lock plate 61 fixed to thepull arm plate 58. Therefore, when the pull arm plate 58 pivots in theclockwise direction viewed from the upper side around the pivot 58 a, asthe pin 59 at the edge of the pull arm plate 58 is engaged in the slot56 a of the arm guide plate 56, the arm guide plate 56 and the disk pushplate 55 fixed thereto are pushed further frontward from the storageposition between the centering plate 50 and the guide ring 53 b than thecase of the disk 6. The pair of disk guide flanges 55 a, 55 a′ fixed tothe disk push plate 55 meet the edge of the disk 7 to push the diskfrontward, and the edge of the disk 7 is exposed to frontward of thefront panel 2 through the slit 8 by the same length as that of the disk6.

[0075] Furthermore, when the rack members 70, 70′ go frontward, the armreset pin 45 meets the front edge of the groove 22 a of the arm resetplate 22, and movement of the hold arm assembly 43 is stopped. When therack members 70 and 70′ go further frontward, the projection 63 of thecam lock plate 61 as a plate spring is disconnected from the edge of thefirst arm member 43 a, so that the projection 63 and the first armmember 43 a are disengaged from each other, and the pull arm plate 58,disk push plate 55, and arm guide plate 56 return to each originalposition at the same time by means of restoring force of the spring 57.A switch not shown engaged with the rack members 70′ is turned ON at theposition, the drive motor 1 c is rotated backward to return the rackmembers 70, 70′ to the position where the disk 6 is loaded, and theswitch is turned OFF, through which the operation is complete.

[0076] Next, detailed description is provided for disk loading when adisk to be played is a cartridge disk 3. FIG. 25 through FIG. 27 showthe loading sequence.

[0077] As shown in FIG. 20 through FIG. 22 and FIG. 25, when thecartridge disk 3 contacts the slot 4 of the front panel 2, both edges ofthe cartridge disk 3 contact two unlocking rivets 10 of the cover 5projected frontward and pushes the rivets. When the unlocking rivets 10are pushed rearward, the inclined section 9 a 1 of the lock arm 9 acontacting the bottom section 10 b of the rear projecting section 1 a inthe rear side of the unlocking rivet 10 is moved downward while slidingalong the bottom section 10 b. Therefore, the edge section of theinclined section 9 a 1 moves to the lower section of the open/closestopper surface 5 a 3 of the cover member 5 a, and the cover can beopened or closed. The lock arm member 9′ located in the right side hasthe same configuration as described above.

[0078] The cover member 5 a is pushed further rearward by the cartridgedisk 3 to pivot rearward. The horizontal-level holding member 11 fixedto the cover member 5 a also moves from an access path for the cartridgedisk 3 together with the cover member 5 a to avoid interference with thecartridge disk 3.

[0079] The cartridge disk 3 pushed further rearward is engaged with thecartridge guide grooves 65 b, 65 b′ of the cartridge guide members 65,65′ in the rear side of the slot 4 through the slot 4. The rear edge ofthe cartridge disk 3 meets the rear edge of the guide ring 53 and thecartridge pushes a lock member not shown, then, the lock of thecentering plate 50 is unlocked and the guide ring 53 is pushed rearward.The centering plate 50 integral with the guide ring 53 also movesrearward while sliding along the second slits 33 b, 33 b′ of the plateguides 33, 33′. Then the rear edge of the cartridge disk 3 meets thetongue section 40 f of the arm plate 40, and the arm plate 40 also movesrearward.

[0080] As shown in FIG. 26, when the cartridge disk 3 is further pushed,the centering plate 50 moves further rearward while sliding along thesecond slits 33 b, 33 b′ through the guide ring 53. At the same time,the disk guide tips 44, 44′ at the front sections of the hold arm 43 gointo the escape grooves 65 a, 65 a′ from the opening in the front sideof the disk guide members 65, 65′, and move rearward.

[0081] When the cartridge disk 3 is further pushed, the cartridge disk 3is locked by engaging the edge 66 b of the cartridge lock 66 projectingtoward the cartridge guide grooves 65 b′ with the concave sections 3 a′provided on the side of the cartridge disk 3. The cartridge disk 3 isheld by the cartridge guide members 65, 65′. Furthermore, the switch 68engaged in the cartridge lock 66 is turned ON, and the carrier mechanismruns.

[0082] As shown in FIG. 27, the cartridge disk 3 fixed to the carriermember 30 through the cartridge guide members 65, 65′ is carried in itshorizontal level by the above mentioned carrier mechanism. The arm plate40 is pushed by the cartridge disk 3 and positioned in the rear side ofthe carrier member 30, therefore, in association with the movement ofthe carrier member 30, the tongue section 40 e in the rear side of thearm plate 40 meets the up-and-down lever 85 at the rear edge section ofthe shutter open/close arm 82, and the up-and-down lever 85 slides ontothe tongue section 40 e. Then, the up-and-down lever 85 moves upward,while the open/close lever 84 at the front edge section of the arm 82moves downward. During this process, the cutout 30 a 1 formed on the topsection 30 a of the carrier member 30 is positioned in the front side,while the cutout 40 d of the arm plate 40 and the cutout 50 d of thecentering plate 50 are positioned in the rear side, and the open/closelever 84 moves downward through the space therebetween and engaged inthe concave section at the front section of the shutter 3 b of thecartridge disk 3. When the cartridge disk 3 moves further rearward, theopen/close arm 82 pivots together with the shutter 3 b in thecounterclockwise direction viewed from the upper side around the pivot80 a 1 of the arm supporting member 80 to open the shutter.

[0083] Although the carrier member 30 moves down after the lever 84, theopen/close arm 82 is also rotatable around the pivot 82 a, thusengagement thereof with the shutter being maintained. The cartridge disk3 is centered on the turntable 1 a, and the damper 1 b moves down by theup-and-down mechanism not shown, thus a playing state being complete. Atthis point of time, the large-diameter disk guide ring 53 a fixed to thecentering plate 50 contacts the escape guide 94 from the upper side,moves the guide downward, and pivots the escape or moveable plate 90downward around the pivot 90 a through the release bracket 95 integrallyprovided with the escape guide 94. Accordingly, it is possible toprevent interference of parts on the centering plate 50 with parts onthe escape or moveable plate 90.

[0084] As shown in FIG. 23 and FIG. 24, after playing or recording isfinished, the drive motor 1 c is rotated backward according to anoperation of the eject switch 1 d by the operator, and the rack members70, 70′ go frontward. The cartridge disk 3 together with the cartridgeguide members 65, 65′ is carried automatically along the original pathfrom the location of playing or of the recording unit. When thecartridge disk 3 is about to pass over the lock arm member 9, the frontedge of the cartridge disk 3 contacts the sliding inclined surface 9 dof the lock arm member 9, and rotates the lock arm member 9 in theclockwise direction when viewed to the X direction around the rotaryshafts 9 c 1. Accordingly, the concave section 9 a 2 in the lower sideof the lock arm 9 a moves the open/close arm 5 a 2 of the cover member 5a downward, and the cover 5 pivots rearward around the rotary shaft 5 a1 and releases the slot 4.

[0085] When the cartridge disk 3 is loaded, the switch not shown isturned ON at the position where the cartridge disk 3 is held to thecartridge guide members 65, 65′ by the cartridge lock 66 to stop thedrive motor 1 c, and the rack members 70, 70′ stop. When the cartridgelock 66 is disengaged from the cartridge disk 3, the centering plate 50moves frontward while sliding along the second slits 33 b, 33 b′ of theplate guides 33, 33′ by means of the restoring force of the spring 35.The guide ring 53 fixed to the centering plate 50 moves the cartridgedisk 3 frontward keeping in contact with the cartridge disk 3. As a partof the cartridge disk 3 is projected from the slot 4, the operator canpull out the disk therefrom.

[0086] As described above, with the slot-in type of front-loading diskplayer according to the present invention, even when either a bare diskor a cartridge disk is inserted through a front panel, the disk can beheld, pulled into the internal section thereof, automatically carried toa playing unit, and played.

What is claimed is:
 1. A front-loading disk player comprising: a frontpanel having a slot for receiving therein both a bare disk and acartridge disk with a recording disk mounted in the cartridge; a firstcarrier unit for carrying the bare received in the slot; and a secondcarrier unit for carrying the cartridge disk received in the slot;wherein the first carrier unit is moveable from a carrier path for thecarrier of the cartridge disk by the second carrier unit.
 2. Thefront-loading disk player according to claim 1; wherein the firstcarrier unit moves by being pushed by the cartridge disk carried by thesecond carrier unit.
 3. The front-loading disk player according to claim1 further comprising: a cover section for blocking said slot.
 4. Thefront-loading disk player according to claim 3; wherein a second slotfor receiving only the bare disk therein is provided in said coversection.
 5. The front -loading disk player according to claim 4; whereinsaid cover section has a guide member for guiding the bare disk, theguide member being provided integrally therewith in a rear side thereofin a direction to which a disk is inserted therein.
 6. The front-loadingdisk player according to claim 4; wherein a lock unit for locking anoperation of opening said slot is provided on said cover section.
 7. Thefront-loading disk player according to claim 6; wherein said coversection has a guide member for guiding the bare disk, the guide memberbeing provided integrally therewith in a rear side thereof in adirection to which a disk is inserted therein.
 8. The front-loading diskplayer according to claim 6; wherein said lock unit is provided in edgesections of said cover section.
 9. The front-loading disk playeraccording to claim 8; wherein said cover sect ion has a guide member forguiding the bare disk, the guide member being provided integrallytherewith in a rear side thereof in a direction to which a disk isinserted therein.
 10. The front-loading disk player according to claim 2further comprising: a cover section for blocking said slot.
 11. Thefront-loading disk player according to claim 10; wherein a second slotfor receiving only the bare disk therein is provided in said coversection.
 12. The front-loading disk player according to claim 11;wherein said cover section has a guide member for guiding the bare disk,the guide member being provided integrally therewith in a rear sidethereof in a direction to which a disk is inserted therein.
 13. Thefront-loading disk player according to claim 11; wherein a lock unit forlocking an operation of opening said slot is provided on said coversection.
 14. The front-loading disk player according to claim 13;wherein said cover section has a guide member for guiding the bare disk,the guide member being provided integrally therewith in a rear sidethereof in a direction to which a disk is inserted therein.
 15. Thefront-loading disk player according to claim 13; wherein said lock unitis provided in edge sections of said cover section.
 16. Thefront-loading disk player according to claim 15; wherein said coversection has a guide member for guiding the bare disk, the guide memberbeing provided integrally therewith in a rear side thereof in adirection to which a disk is inserted therein.
 17. A front-loading diskplayer comprising: a front panel having a slot for receiving thereinboth a bare disk and a cartridge disk with a recording disk mounted inthe cartridge; and a carrier unit for carrying the bare disk receivedthrough the slot; wherein the carrier unit comprises a transfer unit fortransferring the bare disk, and a holding unit provided on the transferunit for holding the bare disk on the transfer unit.
 18. Thefront-loading disk player according to claim 17; wherein said holdingunit comprises: a fixing member provided on the transfer unit; and anarm movable on the transfer unit, which can hold both a large-diameterdisk having a prespecified diameter and a small-diameter disk having asmaller diameter than the large-diameter disk.
 19. The front-loadingdisk player according to claim 17; wherein said transfer unit ismoveable from a carrier path of the cartridge disk when the cartridgedisk is carried.